Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The High Desert Is Alive With the Sound Of Music

It's gonna be a musical weekend in Bend!

Feeling a little jealous of your friends who are heading out to the 4 Peaks Music Festival? Or maybe you bought your 4 Peaks ticket a long time ago and now that The Bite of Bend is here, you're a little down about missing one of the great bands on that lineup?

Whether you're staying in town or headed out to camp and frolic, there is plenty to keep your ears happy!Let's start with Thursday night...

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Broken Down Guitars at the Semis by: Jim Williams

LAST BAND STANDING FINALS- Liquid Lounge, 8pm, FreePick up an issue of the Source later today or tomorrow and you'll see a breakdown of the championship round. Even if you missed the nine weeks of competition that led to this, the four bands vying for your vote tomorrow night should give you a good indication of where our local music scene is right now. Three of the four bands are using female vocalists and one even throws in some violin.

Moving on to Friday...

4 PEAKS MUSIC FESTIVAL- Rockin A Ranch, Noon, tickets at 4peaksmusic.comThis festival will last you the entire weekend and is sure to saturate your ears with some of the best string music around as well as stimulate your dancing feet. Just be sure to take in a couple of my favorite bands who will be there.Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers: I saw them at Portland's Mississippi Studios last year and I can tell you that their music is absolutely captivating.

Fruition: This band makes music that is reflective and emotional as well as dance worthy.Poor Man's Whiskey: Just get ready to move your feet. Whether barefoot or wearing boots, they will be hoppin'! Check out a video of them below. Where'd their clothes go? Who needs clothes when you've got whiskey barrels? You need to use a flashplayer enabled browser in order to view this videoSaturday & Sunday...BITE OF BEND- Downtown Bend, 11am, FreeThe music here gets underway at 11:00am each day and if you can tear yourself away from stuffing your face with all the edible goodies, will provide you with hours of listening pleasure. The festival has a little bit for everyone including the Hawaiian sounds of Bill Keale, a Led Zeppelin tribute, and brilliant honky tonk from Whitey Morgan & the 78's.

My personal picks are Saturday's set by former Bend rock band The Autonomics, as well as Sunday's performance by Seattle world music group The Polyrhythmics. If you want to see what a downtown Bend dance party is like... show up to this one for sure!You need to use a flashplayer enabled browser in order to view this video